Evolving with health care

Tech company Evolution1 grows with demand for cloud-based services

BY KRIS BEVILL

Much attention has been given recently to the difficulties associated with implementing changes in business’ health care plans as they work to comply with new regulations. But while the evolving world of health care has been a headache for many, it has also been a boon for health care-focused technology companies like Evolution1, a provider of electronic payment solutions for health care benefits plans such as flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts.

Launched in 2011 as the result of a merger between Fargo-based Lighthouse1 and East Coastbased Evolutions Benefits Inc., privately owned Evolution1 is focused on “simplifying the business of health care” through the use of cloud-based technology services. Through its 500 partners, including Sanford Health Plan and Alliance Benefit Group North Central States Inc., the company provides customers with the technology needed to track and reimburse health care-related expenses without requiring them to update software or perform any of the back-end work, says Todd Reynolds, chief technology officer.

“We move millions and millions of dollars every day and we process thousands of transactions every second,” he says. “All they have to worry about is: ‘Which device am I going to use today to manage my health care expenses?’”

Last year, Evolution1 processed 66 million claims for the more than 90,000 employers and 10 million consumers served by its platform. The company increased the number of consumers it served in 2013 by more than 30 percent over the previous year and those numbers are expected to grow again this year as changing regulations continue to require health plan providers to update and reform the way they offer health care accounts to their employees.

As business has steadily grown for Evolution1 since 2011, so has the company. Eighty employees have been added in the last three years, bringing the company’s current number of employees to about 310 people throughout its four locations in Fargo, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Mo., and Hartford, Conn. Tiffany Wirth, Evolution1’s marketing director, says the company has not named an official headquarters, but its corporate headquarters is in Fargo, as are about 140 of its employees. Nearly half of the company’s research and development team also works in the Fargo office.

More employees will be added in 2014 as the company continues to ramp up its capabilities to meet demand. In early April, Evolution1’s website listed nearly 30 job openings for various positions throughout its locations. Reynolds says he anticipates adding 20 to 25 new jobs in Fargo, about half of which will be in research and development. “The more things change, the more we have to change with it, but the more people need us,” he says. “We’ve been fortunate enough to be able to adapt pretty quickly — sometimes in days and weeks — to some of the regulatory changes that happen and that just makes for more business.”

In the immediate future, he says Evolution1 will continue to expand its platform’s mobile capabilities and continue developing methods to integrate it with various health care exchanges. “Those are probably the two places that we will put our R&D dollars in over the course of the next 12 months,” he says.

The company is also putting effort into educating its partners and clients on the changing health care climate through an informational website launched last fall. Healthcare Trends Institute (HealthcareTrendsInstitute.org) was created in response to inquiries from employers and partners seeking a source for up-to-date information, according to Wirth. The website provides information on current general interest health care topics through staff-written blogs, studies, webcasts and other resources. “It has really allowed us to simplify the information that is out there and get in the hands of the people who really need to know,” she says. About 1,000 people currently receive information via the institute’s e-newsletter.

As the market for health care benefits services continues to heat up, Evolution1 is confident it has cemented its role as an industry leader. There are only a handful of competitors, and even those competitors offer slightly differing services. Evolution1’s niche is in using a partner model for distribution so that it doesn’t have to directly sell its services to clients.

In a statement released March 24 highlighting its significant growth throughout 2013, CEO Jeff Young gave much of the credit to Evolution1’s partner companies. “The success that we are experiencing is a direct result of the success our partners are having,” he said. “The health care benefits market is both incredibly dynamic and filled with opportunity, and we will continue to invest, partner and innovate to ensure that our partners are in the best position possible to win in the marketplace.” PB

Kris Bevill Editor, Prairie Business 701-306-8561, kbevill@prairiebizmag.com

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